JUNE 3 • 2021 | 27

SPORTS

B

eloved barnstorming Black basket-
ball promoter Bobby Grund died in 
1980 at age 76.
Forty-one years later, his daughter, Patty 
Grund Ceresnie of Commerce Township, 
has written a book, Bobby Had Game, about 
her father’s life and times.
Why write the book now?
“My father’s story couldn’t be more timely 
with the calls for racial equality happening 
in our country,
” Grund Ceresnie said.
“The book describes what life was like for 
great Black basketball players in the 1930s, 
1940s and 1950s (there were no Black play-
ers in the NBA until 1950).
“In some ways, my father was an early 
civil rights advocate because of the way he 
treated and took care of his players.
”
Grund owned, managed and promoted 
barnstorming Black basketball teams from 
the early 1930s until mid-1950s while living 
in Des Moines, Iowa. He wrote news releas-
es, coached, booked games and drove play-
ers to games among his many duties.
His best-known team was the Famous 
Globetrotters.
Abe Saperstein, owner of the Harlem 
Globetrotters, was said to be so angered by 
the success of Grund’s team that he filed 
a trademark lawsuit in the late 1940s that 
resulted in Grund changing his team’s name 
to the Harlem Road Kings.
Grund was so respected in the world 
of barnstorming Black basketball that he 
was honored in 2000 by the Black Legends 
of Professional Basketball Foundation at 
its annual dinner at the Cobo Conference 
Center in Detroit.
He was the first white person honored by 
the foundation, which was founded in 1996 
by former Wayne State University basketball 
star and Harlem Globetrotter John Kline to 
bring together former barnstorming Black 
basketball stars, raise money for inner-city 

middle school basketball programs, and 
mentor children who were at high risk of 
dropping out of school.
Kline called Grund “the smartest and best 
barnstormer ever.
”
Cleo Johnson, who played for Grund, said 
Grund helped him have a decent life.
“He bought me my first radio,
” Johnson 
said. “My life was better for knowing and 
working with Bobby Grund.
”
Grund’s daughter wasn’t surprised to hear 
those comments.
“While I remember Bobby Grund as a 
loving father who brought the most inter-
esting people to our house for dinner, his 
players remember him as a kind and decent 
coach and manager,
” Grund Ceresnie said.

Bobby Had Game, a 198-page book, is 
available in paperback for $14.99 or on 
Kindle for $4.95 exclusively at Amazon.com. 
The book’s subtitle is “Bobby Grund: The 
Forgotten Promoter of Barnstorming Black 
Basketball.
”
College instructor, editor and author 

James Windell co-wrote the book over the 
past couple years with Grund Ceresnie, a 
first-time author at age 76.
This is Windell’s 37th book.
Since its release April 4, the book has 
found a spot on Amazon’s lists of the top 
100 basketball and professional wrestling 
books.
Grund, who moved to Detroit in 1968, 
promoted pro wrestling and boxing shows 
after his barnstorming days ended in 1957. 
He worked with pro wrestling stars such as 
Leaping Larry Shane, Dick the Bruiser, Bobo 
Brazil, Gorgeous George and Lou Thesz.
“People have told me they really like the 
book because it’s easy to read and tells a 
heartwarming story,
” Grund Ceresnie said. 
“They especially like the profiles of the great 
Black basketball players and professional 
wrestlers who worked with my father, and 
the section on the history of Jews in Iowa.
”
Grund Ceresnie lived in Des Moines until 
she was 19. She said she loved growing up 
there, especially because of a vibrant Jewish 
community that had four synagogues, and 
her father’s barnstorming Black basketball 
team.
“My father’s players were my best friends 
when I was little,
” she said.
Those players included Marques Haynes, 
Goose Tatum and 7-foot-6-inch Rayford 
“Bombo” Johnson.
Grund Ceresnie’s love for singing and 
dancing matched her love for basketball 
when she was young. So much so that she 
sang and danced at halftime shows at her 
father’s games.
She moved to Southfield in 1971. During 
the 1970s, she was the singer and leader of 
the Patty Grant Orchestra, which performed 
across southeast Michigan at social func-
tions.
She’s been married to Steve Ceresnie, a 
clinical psychologist, for 47 years. 

Story of barnstorming Black basketball 
promoter Bobby Grund is a perfect 
book for the times.

‘Bobby 
Had Game’

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Patty Grund 
Ceresnie
Bobby Grund, 
circa 1978

